F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV – Get Free Report) and Comtech Telecommunications (NASDAQ:CMTL – Get Free Report) are both technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability and risk.
Profitability
This table compares F5 and Comtech Telecommunications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| F5 | 21.95% | 21.54% | 12.16% |
| Comtech Telecommunications | -5.52% | 9.77% | 1.05% |
Insider and Institutional Ownership
90.7% of F5 shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of F5 shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Comtech Telecommunications shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| F5 | $3.31 billion | 8.10 | $692.38 million | $12.56 | 37.71 |
| Comtech Telecommunications | $499.53 million | 0.08 | -$155.30 million | ($2.21) | -0.61 |
F5 has higher revenue and earnings than Comtech Telecommunications. Comtech Telecommunications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than F5, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for F5 and Comtech Telecommunications, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| F5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2.36 |
| Comtech Telecommunications | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
F5 currently has a consensus price target of $426.00, indicating a potential downside of 10.06%. Comtech Telecommunications has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 86.57%. Given Comtech Telecommunications’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Comtech Telecommunications is more favorable than F5.
Volatility and Risk
F5 has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Comtech Telecommunications has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
F5 beats Comtech Telecommunications on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About F5
F5, Inc. provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company’s distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud. It offers unified, security, networking, and application management solutions, such as web app and API protection; multi-cloud networking; application delivery and deployment; domain name system; content delivery network; and application deployment and orchestration. The company also provides application security and delivery products, including NGINX Plus; NGINX Management Suite; NGINX Ingress Controller; NGINX App Protect; BIG-IP Packaged Software; and BIG-IP Systems. In addition, it provides a range of professional services, including maintenance, consulting, training, and other technical support services. F5, Inc. sells its products to large enterprise businesses, public sector institutions, governments, and service providers through distributors, value-added resellers, managed service providers, systems integrators, and other indirect channel partners. It has partnerships with public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The company was formerly known as F5 Networks, Inc. and changed its name to F5, Inc. in November 2021. F5, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
About Comtech Telecommunications
Comtech Telecommunications Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of next-gen telecommunication solutions in the United States and internationally. The company’s Satellite and Space Communications segment offers satellite ground station technologies, services and system integration that facilitates the transmission of voice, video, and data over GEO, MEO and LEO satellite constellations, including solid-state and traveling wave tube power amplifiers, modems, VSAT platforms, and frequency converters; and satellite communications and tracking antenna systems, including high precision full motion fixed and mobile X/Y tracking antennas, RF feeds, reflectors, and radomes. This segment also provides over-the-horizon microwave troposcatter equipment that can transmit digitized voice, video, and data over distances up to 200 miles using the troposphere and diffraction, including the Comtech; and solid-state, RF microwave high-power amplifiers and control components designed for radar, electronic warfare, data link, medical and aviation applications, as well as engages in the procurement and supply chain management of electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts for satellite, launch vehicle, and manned space applications. Its Terrestrial and Wireless Networks segment offers next generation 911 solutions, which includes emergency call routing, location validation, policy-based routing rules, logging, and security functionality; emergency services IP network transport infrastructure for emergency services communications and support; call handling applications for public safety answering points; wireless emergency alerts solutions for network operators; and software and equipment for location-based and text messaging services for various applications including for public safety, commercial, and government services. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.
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